Michael Thom

Assistant Professor (Teaching)

Ph.D. in Political Science

Michigan State University

Expertise

American politics, public policy

Biographical sketch

Michael Thom is an assistant professor on the teaching faculty at the University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 2012 following defense of his dissertation, “Pension Politics: Partisan Influences on Public Sector Pensions.” Mike’s research interests include public finance, social welfare policy, retirement and aging, policy innovation, privatization, and public opinion. Beyond projects on public sector pensions, Mike plans future work on Medicaid federalism, the impact of emergency financial manager laws, and continuing work on partisan realignment.